The Enlightment of the World

I have come into the possession of an old book that purports to prove that the earth is flat.  The book is entitled "The Enlightenment of the World" by John G. Abizaid, copyright May, 1935, third edition.  The book is subtitled "This book contains proof that the earth is flat and stationary, while the sun, moon and stars are in constant motion.  Also letters showing the testimony of Scripture on the subject."  Written in both English and Arabic with numerous illustrations, diagrams and plates, including a 3-color fold-out map entitled "New Correct Map of the Flat Surface, Stationary Earth".

Does anybody on this blog know anything about this book?  Does anybody know the value of this most unusual book?  I would love to hear from anyone who is interested!

rlloyd@[email protected]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/278-9579400-9580958?_encoding=UTF8&search-type=ss&index=books-uk&field-author=John%20G%20Abizaid

You can PM Daniel, Mr. Davis, or Dogplatter about the book. Maybe they know something about it.

We could put its reviews in the Information Repository or something.  It would be nice to put something worthwhile there for once.  We haven't done that for a few months.

I've heard of the book but don't know much about it.  Last time I was at the British Library doing Flat Earth research, I requested it but they couldn't find their copy.  Hopefully it'll be there next time I go.  After a quick google search, it doesn't seem to be in print in any form at the moment.  Not exactly surprising, I guess, since it's 100 years old and on a rather obscure subject.

I'm very curious to read it.  I don't suppose you want to donate it to the Flat Earth Society so that it can be scanned and put online in the Flat Earth library?

Greetings and Happy New Year,
 
My name is Charlie Abizaid.  I am the great grandson of John G. Abizaid I, author of "The Enlightenment of the World".  My son is John George Abizaid III.  My brother is the III and my father was the II.  A copy of "Enlightenment" has circulated around with the family over the years.  The last time I saw a copy was when I was in high school back in the early 1980's.  I have not seen a copy since and do not believe we are still in possession of a copy as a family.  The book was brought up during a family Christmas party at my aunt's home in Milton, MA a few weeks ago.  My aunt is the granddaughter of the author.  It came up again today during a visit with my mother so I googled "Abizaid Flat Earth" and came upon "The Flat Earth Society" and your post regarding the book.
 
My greatgrandfather came to the US in the late 1800's from Douma, Lebanon.  He married and settled in Boston.  He had eleven children.  He would take my father (as a very young child in the 1930's) to the Boston Common on Sundays, place him on a soap box and they would both espouse his theories and sell copies of the book.  He was uneducated and made a living selling leather items.  Later in life he returned alone to Douma where he died in his late 70's (I believe).  I've heard interesting things about him including that he played poker with the explorer Robert Perry.  My father had a copy of the book which was signed and endorsed by Perry. 
 
I'm not sure if you have had any responses as to the value of the book and I have no idea what it may be worth.  I do not believe there are many copies still out there.  It would mean quite a bit to our family to have a copy. 
 
My email address is [email protected].  Would you please write back to let me know if we may be able to purchase the book from you?  Perhaps it could be scanned into the Flat Earth Society's online library as well.
 
Regards,
 
Charlie Abizaid 

I have come into the possession of an old book that purports to prove that the earth is flat.  The book is entitled "The Enlightenment of the World" by John G. Abizaid, copyright May, 1935, third edition.  The book is subtitled "This book contains proof that the earth is flat and stationary, while the sun, moon and stars are in constant motion.  Also letters showing the testimony of Scripture on the subject."  Written in both English and Arabic with numerous illustrations, diagrams and plates, including a 3-color fold-out map entitled "New Correct Map of the Flat Surface, Stationary Earth".

Does anybody on this blog know anything about this book?  Does anybody know the value of this most unusual book?  I would love to hear from anyone who is interested!

rlloyd@[email protected]

Bummer. So this guy comes here with some very interesting information on an artifact he claims to possess. Then promptly disappears after one post. I bet NASA killed him, those bastards, and burned the book .

Um ... but really dude you still there? donate the book? scan it? something... would be a interesting read and piece of history...

The book might provide insight to some of the factors that have not been discussed by the FE theory

The book might provide insight to some of the factors that have not been discussed by the FE theory

With the amount of knowledgeable people on these forums, it seems almost a crime that they do not connect together and write a book about FE theory. Everything is there. Its all here on this site. Some of these people I have encountered are phenomenally intelligent, either fighting for round earth, or flat earth. Both sides have shown so much effort to intelligence.

What do you guys think the reason you get so many hits is for?

Collaborate and write a book together, and you guys could be making a lot of money... Then you could afford to start a REAL following.

Quote from: Professor Dumbeldor on February 04, 2009, 11:59:49 AM

The book might provide insight to some of the factors that have not been discussed by the FE theory

With the amount of knowledgeable people on these forums, it seems almost a crime that they do not connect together and write a book about FE theory. Everything is there. Its all here on this site. Some of these people I have encountered are phenomenally intelligent, either fighting for round earth, or flat earth. Both sides have shown so much effort to intelligence.

What do you guys think the reason you get so many hits is for?

Collaborate and write a book together, and you guys could be making a lot of money... Then you could afford to start a REAL following.

I'll wait until Chris does a movie. That way we can all bank on it.

Quote from: MessiahOfFire on February 06, 2009, 03:17:34 AM

Quote from: Professor Dumbeldor on February 04, 2009, 11:59:49 AM

The book might provide insight to some of the factors that have not been discussed by the FE theory

With the amount of knowledgeable people on these forums, it seems almost a crime that they do not connect together and write a book about FE theory. Everything is there. Its all here on this site. Some of these people I have encountered are phenomenally intelligent, either fighting for round earth, or flat earth. Both sides have shown so much effort to intelligence.

What do you guys think the reason you get so many hits is for?

Collaborate and write a book together, and you guys could be making a lot of money... Then you could afford to start a REAL following.

I'll wait until Chris does a movie. That way we can all bank on it.

There are places where you are free to spam.  This is not one of them.

Seriously, though, it would be difficult to write a book on FE theory, given how it varies from person to person.  Also, most RE users here probably wouldn't want to associate themselves with something that-while possibly selling well-would almost definitely be critically panned by scientists, not to mention ridiculed by the rest of the world.

Quote from: theonlydann on February 10, 2009, 09:24:41 AM

Quote from: MessiahOfFire on February 06, 2009, 03:17:34 AM

Quote from: Professor Dumbeldor on February 04, 2009, 11:59:49 AM

The book might provide insight to some of the factors that have not been discussed by the FE theory

With the amount of knowledgeable people on these forums, it seems almost a crime that they do not connect together and write a book about FE theory. Everything is there. Its all here on this site. Some of these people I have encountered are phenomenally intelligent, either fighting for round earth, or flat earth. Both sides have shown so much effort to intelligence.

What do you guys think the reason you get so many hits is for?

Collaborate and write a book together, and you guys could be making a lot of money... Then you could afford to start a REAL following.

I'll wait until Chris does a movie. That way we can all bank on it.

There are places where you are free to spam.  This is not one of them.

Seriously, though, it would be difficult to write a book on FE theory, given how it varies from person to person.  Also, most RE users here probably wouldn't want to associate themselves with something that-while possibly selling well-would almost definitely be critically panned by scientists, not to mention ridiculed by the rest of the world.

That is true, but I could see it as being a fun book. Not to be taken seriously, but in a way to teach people (especially young kids) to look outside the box they live in, to question and not just eat what the schooling system feeds.

I agree that a contemporary collection of Flat Earth theories including updates and clarification on early zetetic literature would be awesome, but it would also be nearly impossible to compile.

This book is not available in full text on books.google, and archive.org doesn't have it. Here's the worldcat ref:

http://www.worldcat.org/title/enlightenment-of-the-world/oclc/41389920&referer=brief_results

I don't see any used copies for sale. But the book does exist. It was first published in Boston, 1912, so if anyone gets a copy they can post it online, probably, because it's published in the USA prior to 1923.

If anyone gets a copy I will republish it and relay it out under the flat earth society.

Otherwise, I guess I'll be travelling soon to New York or contacting their library.

If anyone gets a copy I will republish it and relay it out under the flat earth society.

Otherwise, I guess I'll be travelling soon to New York or contacting their library.

I have a friend in SOHO, and had him follow up.  Turns out the book is for in-library use only, so could not check it out.  They have a service where they will scan and e-mail out-of-copyright books, but it is going to run over $100.  Not a huge deal, but I'd like to track down an original copy for that much money.  I checked out a couple local bookstores with no luck.  I have two more nearby but they have very limited hours.  If all else fails, I will probably just get the scan to e-mail from NYPL.

Quote from: John Davis on May 08, 2013, 11:14:23 AM

If anyone gets a copy I will republish it and relay it out under the flat earth society.

Otherwise, I guess I'll be travelling soon to New York or contacting their library.

I have a friend in SOHO, and had him follow up.  Turns out the book is for in-library use only, so could not check it out.  They have a service where they will scan and e-mail out-of-copyright books, but it is going to run over $100.  Not a huge deal, but I'd like to track down an original copy for that much money.  I checked out a couple local bookstores with no luck.  I have two more nearby but they have very limited hours.  If all else fails, I will probably just get the scan to e-mail from NYPL.

Let me know!  Thanks for the update.  Extremely excited about the contents of this book.

The world is making it really hard for me to obtain this.  NYPL said they only had the 1935 edition which is still under copyright.  The site says they have the 1910 which is public domain, but NYPL denied this.  I am going to try again later and hopefully speak with someone else.

The Harvard bookstore says they can print on demand any non-copyright work in Google Books and several other databases.  The 1910 edition was in Google Books and I provided the ID, but got this response:

"Though this title is in the public domain, I was not able to find a digital version of the book from which I can print, so, unfortunately I won't be able to print this book until it is scanned and made available via the web."

These roadblocks are only making me more determined to locate this text.  Harvard Library's website says they have the 1910 edition, so I am going to see if I can get them to collaborate with the Harvard bookstore to get it scanned in.  Hopes are not high though.  None of the bookstores in my city have a copy, but it seems that copies of the text didn't circulate far beyond the NE United States.

The quest continues.

did you get it?

did you get it?

Unfortunately, not yet.  I had visited a bunch of local bookstores with no luck.  Then, I got lazy for a few weeks.  About two weeks ago, I called every bookstore in town with no luck.  That, along with the lovely folks at Harvard, have made this an increasingly difficult task to achieve.

Having said that, I check at least once a week to see if the 1910 edition has been made digital, as it is free of copyright.  No luck so far, but I am also checking rare bookstores online about weekly as well.

I will find it, it is just taking a lot longer than I had hoped.

wasnt it published in boston?.. maybe try all the bookstores and libraries in only massechusettes... like in all the old towns etc..

maybe we could dip into the Tshirt fund?

It isn't really about the money, just finding a copy.  I wouldn't mind fronting the cash to buy it, scan it, and provide it here.  If we can get a few people looking, especially those on the East coast of the US, we may find a copy for sale.

Salute everyone 

Ye can download the book in question here.

Enjoy

I am so excited about this.

I read up to

Take a glass of water and pour it on a round ball, if the water stays on then the earth must be round, but if the water falls off then the earth must be flat.

Nice find Maverick the internet is such a great resource.

This is now in our library under books.

"The land is solid and all in one piece, joined together under the ocean all over the Earth" - John G. Abizaid, 1912

Man I miss the good old days of building with Asbestos, using Mercury in thermometers and using lead based paints.

Salute everyone 

Ye can download the book in question here.

Enjoy

This is now in our library under books.

I am late to the party, but thank you very much for this.